5 essential Ubuntu optimization tips for newbies.

Most people that try Ubuntu are mostly first time Linux users. For such people, life can sometimes be very unpredictable given the mostly steep learning curve that comes with being a first time Linux user. If you are among such people, the following 5 tips should help make things a little easy and somewhat fun for you.

Beware of issuing obscure commands.

Cross check commands that you are not sure of before issuing them at the terminal. There are commands that look very innocent but can obliterate your entire system installation very easily. Whatever the command, make sure you understand it before issuing it. If you are in doubt, consult Professor Google.

As much as possible, do a clean install.

Doing a clean install of Ubuntu is always better than upgrading over the network. There are less broken packages to worry about. Your system is also likely to be properly configured when you do a clean reinstall as compared to upgrading over the network.

Use native applications.

By native applications I mean try using GNOME applications as much as possible on the GNOME desktop and vice versa for KDE. In my experience, I have realized that certain applications designed for one desktop tend to be sluggish and somewhat resource hogs on the other though they work fine.

Disable non essential processes

To further make your system even more efficient, try disabling non essential processes at start up. For instance, if you don’t use your bluetooth, there is no sense in having it run when you start up.

Beware of running as a privileged user

If you need to do something as an admin on your system, remember to drop all privileges as soon as you are done. Running as an admin on your Ubuntu box without any real reason can be a recipe for disaster.

Yea Don, I agree that most apps are resource hogs either ways, but I've had incidents where KDE apps tend to be sluggish on GNOME. Maybe mine was an isolated incident. I've known of kdebase for sometime but have not tried it yet. Will do so asap. Thanks